Just in case anyone is wondering, the superstore in south west Edmonton is fully stocked (even with out of season goods).
Anyone trying to convince you of food shortages is pushing dangerous misinformation.
After yesterday's attack on the ATA my wife and decided that if the UCP win the election in 2023 we're leaving Alberta.
I've already started looking for jobs in BC and Ontario.
My kids deserve so much better than the trash the UCP are offering.
Alberta is a depressing place to live in right now. Not just because of COVID and our collective handling of that. But because the pandemic has made clear exactly how wide spread disbelief and distrust in science has spread.
I can honestly say I have never been to a political protest. For anything. Ever.
But I swear, if either of my kids get COVID because of this bat-shit crazy non-plan of ignoring COVID when school starts I will single handedly shut down this entire province.
If Alberta is going to have a deficit north of $20b why on Earth are we still paying for a war room, issues managers, and public inquiries that have predetermined outcomes?
What a waste of money.
Dear Alberta,
If anyone questions how much we pay nurses or docs or any health worker think about this. My wife is a nurse. She has spent the last 3 days working through all her breaks, essentially non-spot to see people who think they might have the corona virus 1/2
It's bananas to me that an industry with record breaking profits needs any sort of public money to meet it's legal requirements.
Seriously Alberta. We have ERs closing nearly every day and overflowing classrooms but the best use of our tax dollars is to give it to Suncor?
Apparently the movie Turning Red has parents up in arms over the inclusion of puberty topics like girls beginning to menstruate and needing pads.
This is clearly an important topic for young people. Especially because adults apparently can't deal with it being talked about.
People protesting in Alberta know full well they have the implicit and explicit support of the government. So why are they protesting?
They are protesting us. The rest of the people in Alberta who don't agree with them. The divisiveness starts right there.
I don't know who needs to hear this but:
There is a problem with calling Canadian Oil ethical while saying our leader is a dictator.
There is a problem with saying Canadian Oil is the greenest option while opposing Carbon Taxes.
You can't have it both ways.
On one hand we have a Premier who changed the rules so she and her cabinet could accept bribes.
On the other hand we have an opposition leader who refused bribes when conservative political operatives attempted to entrap him.
Let's put this in perspective.
Mistakes made by Redford cost Alberta a few million dollars and she was forced to design.
Mistakes made by Kenney and Co have code Alberta hundreds of lives and at leat tens of millions of dollars.
Why is he still in charge?
While a group of white supremist driving big trucks takes a grievance vacation to Ottawa, tens of thousands of other truckers pick up their slack to make sure there are no shortages.
Thanks to all the truckers still doing their jobs!
If you ever needed proof the UCP doesn't plan for the future remember that a month ago they shut down schools so they had time to send masks and rapid test kits out to schools.
Holy crap.
The AB government spent $80m buying 5m bottles of kids' Tylonol from Turkey.
That's $16 per bottle.
That's about twice as much as I'd pay buying it over the counter anywhere.
Something something something fiscal conservatives.
Which is fine. It’s her job. But unlike electricians, bankers, cooks or almost any other profession, by doing that she is put herself (and our family) right in the path of the epidemic. If you think that’s not worth paying for, I have a few choice words for you. 2/2
Does anyone know who this is? Apparently he's an Albertan who campaigned for Trump and is somehow involved in our government.
@jkenney
@UCPCaucus
@KayceeMaduYEG
?
Someone help me out.
Oil tanks on fire in southern Alberta.
But here in Alberta we're more concerned about the environmental damage caused by renewable energy. Because, you know, all those solar panels that explode or something.🙄
I have a challenge for any UCP MLAs pushing 'old school' math and the need for more 'rigour'. I will meet you any time, anywhere and give you a Math 10-C exam (we don't even need to do a 30-1 test). Let's see how much long term retention rote learning has given you.
Let me get this straight. Hospitals are still overwhelmed and short staffed and Alberta is spending $2m to blame restrictions (for saving peoples lives).
FYI, $2,000,000 would pay for more than 200 nurses for an entire year.
I'm terrified about sending my kids back to school next week. Omicron may be mild IF you're vaccinated.
Neither of my kids are.
Is our society prepared to sacrifice 2 year olds so we can have a drink on a patio with friends? Is that really where we are?
So to recap, Kenney says the federal election is expensive and dangerous (due to COVID).
Aren't we having a useless referendum and enjoying the 'best summer ever'?
Can someone tell me why the AB gov is calling on the federal government and Red Cross to set up field hospitals instead of just doing it themselves? Space exists in places like the Shaw Conference Center or the Agricom. Why isn't the AB gov doing it's job?
Today in the legislature,
@jkenney
literally said lower investment returns shouldn't bother Albertans.
Let that sink in. Then tell me how you really feel.
The very presence of private schools means there is choice. The government doesn't (and shouldn't) fund them. If parents want to CHOOSE a private school, they can pay for it.
Otherwise, public education (which also offers a dizzying array of choices) suffers.
When asked why charter and private schools are being funded with a much more aggressive rate (4X!) than public schools, Nicolaides response?
“Well yeah, we believe in choice”
#abpoli
#ableg
#cdnpoli
Kenney and his minister have sent numerous letters outlining their 'expectations' for schools, universities and the like.
I figured it was about time I outlined my expectations for this government.
Like the UK, here in Alberta, we have substantially more land taken up by golf courses than solar farms. And yet, there is no concern about golf courses using prime agricultural land or their environmental effects.
I have a stark choice to make for Monday.
Prioritize her education or her health.
I'm so angry that parents across the province have to make that choice. After already losing a week of school for nothing.
Here is some free advice for all your science students out there. Contrary to what the
@CMOH_Alberta
says, the job of scientists (and doctors) is NOT to 'construct a narrative' with data or evidence. It's to present evidence. 1/6
For everyone who was concerned about mental health because you had to wear masks, where is your concern for nurses mental health when they are forced to work overtime, blamed for working overtime and have been working over time for a year to keep us all live?
I can't believe this has to be said, but under no circumstances do we EVER try and justify the holocaust. That's not even a discussion.
What the hell is going at Alberta Education?
Maybe the
@HolocaustMuseum
wants to comment on this.
The
@CMOH_Alberta
had said we need to stop.focusing on COVID and start focusing on other respiratory illnesses. But not by encouraging hand sanitizing. Or wearing masks. Or staying home when your sick.
So.... What exactly will we be doing?
The fact that nurses in Alberta are ASKED to work enough OT to make $180k+ is actually a systemic problem that won't be fixed by cutting staff of salaries.
If you want to pay less OT you need more FT nurses.
Are there other solutions that don't impact patient care?
Let's be clear - The dire state of the Alberta healthcare system isn't just due to the 'best summer ever' declaration early in the summer.
This has been in the making with every decision the UCP made. They ignored experts. Derided critics. Defended antivax.
I hope that all the 'truckers' that went to Ottawa and blew their car horns for days listen to the air raid sirens in Kyiv or see Russians getting rounded up for protesting and are embarrassed by what they thought was tyranny.
Unlikely, I know.
Alberta, where our government can spend hundreds of millions to help billionaires build a hockey arena to help them make millions more but can't help low income seniors take the bus.
I was told by my MLAs office the
#ATRF
pension would save teachers $500/year in admin fees. When I pointed out my admin fees were only $111/year all I was told was "I've answered your question".
That's a multi-million dollar mistake. This is how policy is being set.
Going forward I'm going to start posting a daily headline either from the Beaverton or from AB politics. It's your job, my loyal twitter followers, to decide where it's from.
Today:
Smith says no COVID pardons because Alberta doesn't use US constitution.
A long🧵on the direction of Educaiton in Alberta. Parents across Alberta should be very wary of this message. I'm a father of two amazing young people, I've been an educator for 20 years and I'm conducting research in Education and Science.
Hockey Canada lost sponsorship and government funding because it covered up sexual abuse.
This is me waiting for the same hammer to drop on the Calgary Stampede.
@ABDanielleSmith
What evidence are you referring to? I am aware of several peer reviewed studies showing the negative impacts are very minor. Especially considering the public health benefits of wearing masks.
Anyone pushing a ban on electronic tabulators because of accuracy is either completely misinformed or disingenuous. Given the propensity of evidence it's really hard to argue for the misinformed part. As math and physics teacher for more than 20 years let me tell you why. 1/x
If you are watching Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine and somehow think it's justifiable to say Trudeau is a dictator, I'm sorry but you have a few screws loose.
Remember last year when millions of liters of contaminated tailings water leaked at the Kearl mine? Where was the pause on development then?
The future ecological issues with renewable energy don't compare to the current and unaddressed issues with O&G.
Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way but sometimes it feels like every UCP decision regarding education doesn't really consider students but rather how they can 'stick it' to educators and stakeholders.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about how I would design a secondary science program. Rather than the Bio/Chem/Physics streams we have now I would start with the graduations requirements being Scientific Literacy 10, 20 and 30. Everyone would have to take all three.
Someone needs to tell Kenney you can't wait this out. There are nearly 1,000,000 unvaccinated people in Alberta. Even at the insane level of 2,000 per day it would take nearly two years to infect everyone.
Who wants to live this way for two years?
If you haven't been following the AB curriculum discussion let me draw a striking parallel. The UCP's current approach to COVID is exactly the same.They trash experts who speak out and relying on a select few paid individuals for advice.
I know everyone is probably focused on the federal election tomorrow, but I'm also terrified to hear what AB's COVID numbers from the weekend are.
Guesses?
Everyone should thank the school administrators, superintendents and support staff who will spend New Years Eve figuring out what will happen next year.
One last thing about the moratorium on new renewable projects.
It's not going to affect the global transition to renewable energy in any way. However it WILL curtail growth in that industry in Alberta for years.
And Alberta will lose.
I’m SO MAD. Hopefully anyone who knows me, knows I rarely get angry, but I just got off the phone with the Kaycee Madu’s office and I don’t think I’ve ever been this upset (at least not recently). About a month ago I sent Kaycee a email asking him about 3 basic topics:
One of the chief principles of science is changing your mind when faced with new evidence.
So I'd like to know what
@CMOH_Alberta
's threshold for admitting we're handling things wrong. Is it 1000 cases/day? 2500? 100 new ICU admissions?
What are the quantitative numbers?
If you think increasing acute care is a more responsible approach than decreasing the number of people who get sick, you are neither fiscally conservative or a caring person.
Who else is shocked by the contrast in leadership displayed by Ford and Kenney.
To say I'm not a fan of either is an understatement. But credit where it's due, when the pandemic hit, Ford stepped up.
Kenney stepped down. (And I didn't think he could go any lower).
So just to be clear, despite schools being closed for a week, they will not be any safer on Monday then they would have been all this week.
Moving at the speed of business!
Now that the Premier, the Health Minister and the Finance Minister (among others) have finally admitted to breaking the public health orders, can we expect them each to be issued $2000 fines?
We drive an electric car. We are having solar panels installed on our house. We have a high efficiency furnace. What else can we do to reduce our carbon foot print?
If in person classes resume next Monday that doesn't mean parents can return to work. It just means they can go back to work until their child inevitably gets COVID. Then they have to stay home AND have a sick child.
5) Stop trying to divide Albertans. The war on doctors. The insane salary demands from nurses. The twitter attacks on teachers. Driveway rants by Ministers. This is all garbage and needs to stop.
If anyone whines about the costs of 'lockdowns' and effects on businesses, remind them of the cost of ICU beds and FLYING PATIENTS across North America because we can't treat them here.
Anyone attending the townhall today please ask:
Minister Dreeshen announced in August funding for the YYC greenline was secured and good to go. Now the UCP has reneged on that so why should we trust that the schools will be built or staffed as promised?
1) I expect you to listen to the medical experts. Not just the one paid by AH. Especially the ones that disagree with you.
2) Enforce the law. The anarchy at the border is your fault and your responsibility. Deal with it.
3) Ensure the safety my kids, my parents and the rest of the at risk people in this province.
4) Stop confusing freedom with anarchy. Seriously dude. This is a simple thing.
Just to recap, the 'responsible stewards':
1) Spent $100m on fake Tylenol that was never used
2) Spent more than $1.2b on a pipeline that was never built
3) Spent hundreds of millions on a war room to fight with big foot
But this is a bridge too far? Really? REALLY?
The office of Justice Minister
@mickeyamery
said in a statement that it is important to balance access to high-quality legal aid with being “responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Resign.
Just so we're clear, the province is NOT requiring existing O&G projects to clean up their mess but are worried about how future renewable projects (and only renewable projects) will clean up their mess.
Alberta is pausing all approvals for new wind and solar projects for six months to review where they can be built, how renewables affect the power grid, and rules about what happens to installations when they reach the end of their life
#ableg
#cdnpoli
Here is what the Alberta Government has missed. You can't mandate people feeling safe. And people who don't feel safe don't go out. Whether or not your agree with the safety of the recent announcements, remember that lots of people don't think it's safe.
We are willing to sacrifice our kids to keep the economy open it aren't willing to tax billionaires to keep our hospitals open.
How did this get so messed up?
You think wearing a cloth mask is more traumatizing for an 8 year old? Try having a 6" stick shoved up their nose during a COVID test (or heaven forbid actually getting COVID). And, people have regularly worn face coverings during the winter for decades.
Whatever your thoughts or feelings towards Dr. Hinshaw, the hiring of healthcare workers should not be a politicized enterprise.
This is a dangerous precedent.
When I hear people say 'do your own research' I can't help but roll my eyes. The first two years of my doctoral program essentially focused on HOW to do research.
Research is a skill like anything else that needs to be learned.
It makes me so angry to think that not only is there a person denying the systemic racism and genocide that is on full view but that ALBERTA PAID HIM TO WRITE OUR CURRICULUM.
How am I supposed to justify that to my children?
Had the UCP not shredding the previous NDP/PC curriculum we would be implementing a world class curriculum next year instead of pausing the pile of💩the UCP developed.
@RajanJSaw
These grants and what they fund are public knowledge. There are no secrets here. It's impossible to believe that no one in the government doesn't know how to find this:
In the next decade when we try to analyze what worked and what didn't during this pandemic (in preparation for the next one) Alberta's response will be held up as a model of what should never be attempted again.
The U of A consistently ranks in (or very close) to the top 100 universities in the world. That recognition and prestige are a credit to all Albertans and bring with it benefits to the entire province.
Under the UCP cuts it's unlikely that ranking will remain.